Hey
Keep us posted. Should be interesting.
Steer towards a replacement if you can. No way on earth you'll get paid apps on that phone, no matter how many webOS Doctors they ask you to do. You would not be the first to return a device because of this, and they know it, no matter how surprised they may sound

Crap, I don't have a receipt on this as I was given this phone... argh, why would they make it so permanent like that? That's ridiculous.

Well, actually it should already work if you're in the right country, regardless which carrier you're on, but with the Pre 2 something seems to be different, perhaps even buggy server-side.
There may also be a difference in activation/device record creation between CDMA and GSM devices that remains very obscure.

Rule of thumb: use the device at first as intended by the manufacturer/carrier.

With locked devices (as the Rogers Pre2 is), Palm does sometimes do a carrier check and limit paid apps. I don't know if that changed with the Pre2, but they did the check on some US devices (AT&T locked devices), and I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that Rogers asked for this to be done with their locked Pre2.

Arthur Thornton

Former webOS DevRel Engineer at Palm, HP, and LG
Former webOS app developer (built Voice Memos, Sparrow, and several homebrew apps and patches)
Former blogger for webOS Nation and webOS Roundup

I wonder if that's actually kosher... if someone paid full non-contract price for the rogers phone and unlocked it (which is legal, obviously) can they prevent you from accessing a whole platform's apps? If HP allowed that, that would be a stupid business move.

Getting a rogers phone and unlocking it is the only reasonable method of getting an unlocked pre 2 around here as HP wont ship their unlocked version to Canada for some reason.

I wonder if that's actually kosher... if someone paid full non-contract price for the rogers phone and unlocked it (which is legal, obviously) can they prevent you from accessing a whole platform's apps? If HP allowed that, that would be a stupid business move.

Getting a rogers phone and unlocking it is the only reasonable method of getting an unlocked pre 2 around here as HP wont ship their unlocked version to Canada for some reason.

Unfortunately, it is the same situation as it was with AT&T in the US. Carriers often will NOT carry a device if they know you can purchase an unlocked variant in the same country (or at least in the US, probably also in Canada).

The phone is still Rogers branded and as such, they do have weight with HP to demand that apps only be sold if the device is originally registered on Rogers. That's what AT&T did with Palm for the Pre+

Arthur Thornton

Former webOS DevRel Engineer at Palm, HP, and LG
Former webOS app developer (built Voice Memos, Sparrow, and several homebrew apps and patches)
Former blogger for webOS Nation and webOS Roundup

I have confirmed with the Palm Tech rep that appcat is region and also carrier locked.

"The settings on the phone will only applies to Rogers and we have no unlocked option to use other carrier. The App Catalog is per carrier specific and per region. That is why only free apps is the only available for download.

When asked if this would have happened if I had purchased an unlocked phone from HP if I did not activate it on Rogers:

"Unlocked phone is designed to suit GSM networks but since your phone is intentionally unlocked, this issue relates to not able to have the other functionality available on your network since it's locked previously."

And this:

"Most of App Catalog developers have developed apps per carrier specific. Telus is not listed though it's a GSM like Rogers."

This is total BS! Why would they do this? Android Market, App store is region based, but doesn't lock you to a carrier app store.
And I can't imagine the app catalog developers have made their apps carrier specific. No offense, but it's not like there are THAT many current WebOS developers that they have a niche to make carrier specific apps??!!

I wonder if that's actually kosher... if someone paid full non-contract price for the rogers phone and unlocked it (which is legal, obviously) can they prevent you from accessing a whole platform's apps? If HP allowed that, that would be a stupid business move.

Getting a rogers phone and unlocking it is the only reasonable method of getting an unlocked pre 2 around here as HP wont ship their unlocked version to Canada for some reason.

I have helped several people get their unlocked Pre 2's activated with US app cat access and shipped to them where they live. If you can return your phone for a refund, I will help you get one unlocked from HP. Just PM me.

BTW... I don't charge a penny for my time. All you pay are they actual costs for the device, tax, and shipping.

Clicking the Thanks button is a great way to say... well THANKSPhone Apps: Church Search, Tap for HELPTouchPad Apps: Tap for HELP! HD, webOS Meetups

"Most of App Catalog developers have developed apps per carrier specific. Telus is not listed though it's a GSM like Rogers."

This is total BS! Why would they do this? Android Market, App store is region based, but doesn't lock you to a carrier app store.
And I can't imagine the app catalog developers have made their apps carrier specific. No offense, but it's not like there are THAT many current WebOS developers that they have a niche to make carrier specific apps??!!

Yeah, that's a lie. We don't have the ability to specify which carriers can have our apps. We can limit to country, but not carrier.

Arthur Thornton

Former webOS DevRel Engineer at Palm, HP, and LG
Former webOS app developer (built Voice Memos, Sparrow, and several homebrew apps and patches)
Former blogger for webOS Nation and webOS Roundup

It's nice to see I'm not the only one with the paid apps issue... I've been pulling my hair out trying to fix it Spent an hour Chatting with a palm reb that kept copy pasting text from the KB article on the palm site

So far I got a Pre 2 shipped from HP to montreal Canada, tried to activate it on Bell and I have no paid apps either. What more frustrating Is I seem to have only a few free apps mainly no "Angry Birds" even the free version, All my co-workers got their pre 2 and they were on Rogers and they all work fine !

Tried erasing, full erase and retried with a rogers SIM... Nothing seems to work. I'm getting seriously frustrated and what sucks even more is that I actually work for HP !

Anyway the Palm super expert should contact me so I will keep you posted if anything works out

Anyway the Palm super expert should contact me so I will keep you posted if anything works out

Please keep us updated as I am exactly in the same boat (HP US Pre 2 first activated on Bell). I have a Palm Pre from Bell that gets the paid apps. An EU Pre 2 that I first activated on Rogers that gets the paid apps (although limited to EDGE on Rogers). Can anyone verify that had I first activated the HP US Pre 2 on Rogers, it would have gotten the paid apps?

Anyway, more importantly, I'd like to know if it can still be rectified now with my current phone.

although it is a mystery as to why palm does it this way... The country of first activation is what determines catalog access. She should have the same access you have, but just on a different carrier and"r profile. Just like t would be if you did the activation bypass and just used it over wifi liike an iPod touch.